Type-writing machine.



*PA'IENTED APR. 14, 1908.

G. W. HOWELL.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

APPLIOATmN IILED 00120, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

W VE/FOR- A WITNESSES:

No. 884,735. PATEN'TED APR. 14,1908

0. W; HOWELL.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED 0012.0, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ja /W Hi $04.12;?-

M MQ

. No. 884,735. I

on man-STA ATEnr errron. I

CHARLES W. HOWELL, or NEWARK, NEW-JERSEY, ASSIGNOR 'ro SUN TYPEWRITERGOMPANY,

' A CORPORATION on NEW JERSEY.

I TYPE-WRITING MACHINE.

' To all whom it may concern:-

and useful Im' rovements in 'lype-Writing .Maohines, of w 'ch thefollowing is a spec1 fication.

This invention relates to the type actions of writing machines,especially to those in which type bars-strike rearwardly against thefront side of the platen.

One of the objects of the invention is to.

rovide improved 1 and i'nex ensive means or cushioning the key stro e atboth the beginning and'end thereof. To this end I change the form of alink which connects the kc to the type bar, by making said link with aoop between its ends to permit. slight lengthening of the link at thebeginningof '-the key. stroke when the key. is ,struek.

- shar ly, and also .atthe end of the key 'st'ro e; and I providc'meansfor mechanically limiting the extent of longitudinal yielding action of.the link, so as to avoid undue dcpthof stroke oi the key.

Another object of the invention is to provide a linkof such form'thatnit may be greatly lengthened or shortened by the mechanic to adjustit to its connections.

'ljhis ob'ect I' attain by crimping the link into zigzag 'orm betweenits ends, this form enabling the. worki'nan. to lengthen .or shorten thelink very readily.

Another part'oi' the invention relates to the manner of c'rnineeting thekeys to the fiype bar to secure substantiallyfnn orm ps of the keys, aswell as further improvement in the touch of the keys. The type bars. arepivrgied. in an are at their rear ends to swing u ing upwardlyfrom itsmiddle to its ends, as in the well known Sun front strike writingmachine. I incline rearward] y the upstanding arms .of the key-bearingbell-cranks at the front of the machine, so that the links which extendbabkwardly from said arms to the type bars lieat obtuse an 'lesto saidarms t e rearends of the links eing tilted'up at the sides'of'the seriesto gradually increasing heights to accommodate tliegradnal increase inthe heights of the types bars, and being at their forward end connectedto the lever'f;

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed October 20, 1906.Serial No. 889,782. a

- ront side of a platen 4; the type bars being a toggle which is. onlypartly open so that the leverage of the key. upon the type bar 1s ndbackwardly said are curv Patented April 14; 1908.

arms atpro ortionally increasing heights from the mi dle to the sides ofthe set, to com ensate for their increased obliquity to the evers andrender the angular movements of the levers during the printing strokessubstantially uniform for the set of levers.

Other oigiects and advantages will hereinr a e a In t e accompanyingdrawings, Figure 1 is a sectional longitudmal elevation taken from frontto rear of a Sun typewriting machine provided with my improvements. Fig.2 is a front. elevation.

Types 1 are mounted upontype bars 2 ivoted at 3 to strikerearwardlyagainst the pivoted at their rear ends upon a segment 5 in anare, so as to swing'npwardl and back wardly,-said are curving'upwar lyfr omits middle to its ends, Fig.2. Links 6"Bxtend forwardly from thetype bars 2 tothe u I standing arms 7, 8,, 9, 10, of four sets of be 1-cranks pivoted respectively on horizontal transverse rods 11, 12, 13,14, placed one above another said. bell-cranks provided witlrforwardlyextending arms 15 16, 17, 18, hearing at their forward ends keys in fourbanks, 19, 2Q, 21 and 22; The upstanding lever arms inclinerearwardlyfrom the fulerum rods and lie at obtuse angles to the links 6, each armtaken with its link forming greatest at the initialpart of the keystroke and gradually diminishes during the printing stroke, wherebysharp resistance of the ke to the finger at the beginning of the stroke1s. avoided, while the type baris speeded as it approaches the platenand caused-to deliver. a powerful blow.

The lever arms '7, .8, 9, 10 in the four ears, .are of four lengths tocorrespond wlt the various heights of their fulcrum rods and terminatenearly on a sin le level at their upper ends; but the forwardlyextending arms 15, 16, 17, 18, are of graduated lengths due to thevarious resistance of the key banks from-the 100 -i'ulerun1rods,;thereby compensatingfor the difl'erenees in the heights of theupstanding arms, so that uniform depressions of the keys eli'ectsubstantially uniform forward movementsof the upper ends .of theupstanding 10 5:

lever arms throughout thesystem.

so 'i The rear ends of the links are tilted up at the sides of the,system to graduallyincrease the heights to accommodate the gradualincrease in the heights. of the type bars. lhe oints of connection ofthe links to the stopar is indicated by the dotted line 23, Fig. 2. Theextreme left hand link is indicated in dotted lines at 6*, Fig. 1. Thelinks at their forward. ends are connected to the lever arms atproportionally increasing heights from the middle to the sides of thesystem to comensate for their increased obliquity to the levers, wherebythe angular movements of the levers during the printing strokes andhence the dips of the keys are rendered substantially uniform all overthe keyboard. The points of connection from the forward ends of thelinks to the upstanding lever arms are indicated roughly by a dottedline 24, Fig. 2. It will be understood that the links may be connectedto the short arms at different heights to the points of connection ofthe long arms in order to preserve uniformity of dip of the finger keys.Each lever may be provided with .a series of eyes 25, Fig. 1, into anyone of which the link may be caught. The width of the system of elbowlevers is greater than thewidth of the sys tem of type bars, as seen atFig. 2, and the links 6 fan out or diverge slightly from the type barsforwardly to the lever arms. The type bars and levers are returned tonormal position by any suitable springs 26.

Each of the links 6 is 'formed with springywire, and is formed betweenits ends with a loop 27 to permit lengthening of the link at theoperation of the key. Means are also provided upon the link formechanically limi iting the extent of the longitudinal yieldingaction-of the link, this being preferably done by twisting the loopso'that the legs 28 and 29 thereof, cross or hook into each other, saidlegs beingsligh'tly separated but engageable with each other during thelengthening of the link to prevent forther lengthening of the latter.Thus the loop 'may be made so weak as to yield readily and cushion thekey touch without being subject to such an undue extent of yield as torender the dip. of the key so great as to be prohibited. The.v

loops 27 may lie conveniently alongside of one another, and hencethecushioning of the keys is provided for without calling for an undueamount of room for cushioning mechanism.

. 'Ihe link 6 may be crimped into zi zag form as at A, with five or morebends, as i lustrated at Fig. 1, for convenience in lengthening orshortening the link to accommodate it to different positions ondiflerent levers. \Vhen it is desired to lengthen the link all of thecrimas may be opened slightly, or to shorten t 0 link, they may beclosed slightly by a suitable tool.

a ri'ations may be resorted to within the prevent further lengt scope ofmy invention, and portions of my yielding action of the link: a

2. In a typewriting machine, the'combination with a type-bar and a key,of an interveninglink formed of springy metal having a loop between itse'nds'to ermit lengthening of the link when the ey is struck sharply;means being formed upon the link 'for mechanically limiting the extentof longitudinal yielding action of the link.

3. In a typewr'iting machine, the combination with a typebar and a key,of an intervening link n the form of a wire which between its ends isformed into a spring to permit longitudinal extension of the link; twoparts beingiormed upon the link one of which is movable into engagementwith the otherduring the lengthening of the link to ening of the latter.

4. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a type-baraml a key,of an intervening link in the-form of a wire which be twee'n'its ends isformed into a loop to-permit longitudinal extension of the link; theloop being twisted so that one leg thereof books into the other; saidlegs being slightly separated but .engage'ab'le with each other duringthe lengthening of the link-to prevent further lengthening of thelatter.

5. In a typewritlng machine, the combination with a type-bar and a keyof an intervening link of sprin y metal, said link formed between its ens into a 100 to permit longitudinal extension of the linll, anobstruction being formed ;u on said link in the path of one leg of said00p, to permit the ink when tensioned to lengthen only until said legengages said obstruction.

6. In a typewriting machine in which type bars are pivoted in'an'arc'attheir rear ends to swing u wardly and backwardly against the front sideof a platen, said are curving upwardly from its middle to its ends, thecombination with a set of rearwardly inclined upstanding lever-armspivoted upona common horizontal transverse axis, ofpiilllinks extendingbackwardly from said leverarms to said type-bars and lying at obtuseangles tothe lever-arms; the rear ends of the links bein tilted up atthe sides of the series to gradua 1y increasing heights to accommo datethe radual increase 111 the heights of the types ars, and being at theirforward ends connected to the lever-arms at pro or-' tionally increasinheights from the mi dle to the sides of t e set, to compensate for theirincreased obliquity totheYIeVersand render the angular movements oi thelever .durin the printing strokes substantially uniform or the set oflovers.

7. In a t'ypewriting machine inwhich type bars are pivoted in an are attheir rear ends.

to swing upwardly and backwardly against the front side of a platen,said arc' curving upwardly from its middle to its ends, the combinationwith a set of keys arranged in banks at different hei 'hts, of elbowlevers carrying'said keys and ulcrumcd behind the keys upon a set ofhorizontal transverse fulcruin rods one above another; the lovers uponthe topmost rod carrying the keys in said arms; and pull links extendingback wardly from said arms to said typo-bars and lying at obtuse anglesto the lever-arms; the rear ends oftho links lit-in tilted up at thesides oi" the series to gradually increasing heights to accommodate thegradual increase in the heights of .the type-bars and being at theirforward "ends connected to the lever arms at proportionately increasingheights from the middle to the sides of the system of lever arms tocompensate for the increased obliquity oi the links to the lever arms,and to render the dip of the ke s sub stantially uniform for the set oftype? arts;

8. In a typewriting machine in which type bars are pivoted in an are attheir rear'jends to swing upwardly and' backwardly against the frontside of a platen, said are curving upwardly from its m'iddle to'itsendsfithg combination with'a set of keys arran ed banks at different heihts, of elbow overs carrying said keys and? ulcrurned behind the keysupon a set of horizontaltransverse fulerum rods one above another; thelovers" upon the topmost rod carrying thekeysin the rear banks, thelevers upon the next 10 .ver rod bearing the keys in the next forwardbank, and the levers upon the next lower rod bearing the keys in thenext for- I ward bank; said elbow levers being formed with armsupstanding from saidrods; and

pull-links extending backwardly no said arms to said type bars; the rearends of the links being tilted up at the sides of theseri es lyincreasing heights to aecdmjnd I to gradua (late the gradual increasein. the heights of the ty e-bars; the width of the system of elbow eversbeing greater than the width of the system of type-bars, and said linksdi verging from the type-bars forwardly to the lever-arms.

i/Vitnesses WLL H. CAMFIELD, -RALP1I LANCASTER.

CHARLES W. HOW LL

